Sam Phillips

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - This port city on the Mississippi River calls itself the birthplace of rock 'n' roll. Its credentials? The Memphis Recording Service, forerunner of Sun Studio, in 1951 recorded "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats, which some people say was the first rock 'n' roll record.

Several other cities make the same claim, including Wildwood, N.J., where Bill Haley and His Comets performed the first song with "rock" in the title ("Rock Around the Clock") in 1954; Cleveland, where DJ Alan Freed coined the term rock 'n' roll and organized the first rock concert; and Detroit, home of Motown Records.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - This port city on the Mississippi River calls itself the birthplace of rock 'n' roll. Its credentials? The Memphis Recording Service, forerunner of Sun Studio, in 1951 recorded "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston & His Delta...